Board of Directors and Regional Representatives

My name is Luke Trainor, and I am the Project Manager of ‘Better Than Well’ at the University of Birmingham, the first and only ‘Collegiate Recovery Programme’ in Europe that is fully integrated into a university system. My qualification for this role is unique; it’s built up not solely by professional accolades and educational attainment but by lived experience of addiction and Recovery. I am graduate from UoB, having studied Political Science at undergrad and Psychology MSc.

Before coming to UoB, my work experience was in the area of Service User Involvement and social systems of Recovery, mutual aid and peer support. My career has spanned the breadth of many changes in the policy field of addictions, from Harm Reduction to Recovery. I have worked as an advocate for those in treatment programs, I have managed a small Lived Experience Recovery Organisation (LERO), managed recovery focused programs within the NHS and I have been a part of many Recovery Forums and multidisciplinary panels and groups in the addictions field for over a decade. I have worked in activist roles as well as managerial positions.

My current work with young adults in Recovery is a synergy of multiple passions based on my own lived experience of being a young man in addiction for whom recovery was not available. A culture change in accepting and understanding young people’s emerging addictions and calls for relevant and responsive recovery programs drives much of my work today. I am also interested in how Recovery philosophy can influence and enhance other areas of public policy.

Email: l.trainor@bham.ac.uk